


Painted with stardust

by blushingjjk



Category: Day6 (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Astronomy, Fluff, M/M, a teeny tiny bit of side Jaepil, a tiny bit of side Sungwoon, astronomer Jae, coffee lover Jae, star Brian
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-11
Updated: 2018-11-11
Packaged: 2019-08-21 20:08:06
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,125
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16583264
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blushingjjk/pseuds/blushingjjk
Summary: Ninety three percent stardust, with souls made of flames, we are all just stars that have people names.( or: Stars, which are given a name, come down to Earth for 24 hours in a human form and Jae happens to be at the right place, at the right time. )





	Painted with stardust

**Author's Note:**

  * For [cryystal_m00n](https://archiveofourown.org/users/cryystal_m00n/gifts).



> summary: Nikita Gill - 93 percent stardust  
> [ aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa ]  
> I joined this exchange to challange myself to do something that i've never done before: write an entire story from beginning to the end, so please keep in mind that this is my first fic ever!!
> 
> I want to thank Tuva the bestest beta reader, Pep and other friends of mine for helping and encouraging me all the time, if it wasn't for you guys my head would have probably exploded. 
> 
> I changed the prompt a lot but i had so much fun working on it, thank you for letting me write such an amazing idea!! 
> 
> I will appreciate any kind of feedback so so much, tell me what you liked and what you hated. Make me cry. 
> 
> I hope you enjoy!

"It's clearly just a plane." 

It was a warm wednesday night, maybe way too warm for the mid of october. Jae had dragged his best friend on one of the fields by their campus, promising to do his laundry for a month if he helped him with his homework. Both of them knowing that it was not going to happen but Sungjin had agreed to go anyways. 

"How can you say that when you won't even look up from your phone." Jae pointed out and only recieved the finger from the other in return. "Tell your boyfriend i said hi." he sighted as he looked again through his stethoscope. 

The homework was for astrology, a class he only took for the extra credit. Sungjin had tried to convince him to take physics instead but Jae wasn't going to put himself nor the poor physics teacher throught that again. So astrology was it. 

Studying at an astronomy and spacial studies university meant sometimes not getting home before early morning hours and this night hadn't been an exception. 

They were sat on an old blanket that they had kept specifically for these kinda occasions and which was starting to smell a little musty and was in the need of a few patches. 

Sungjin sat with his legs crossed, Jae changing his position every now and then like he always did due to his back hurting whenever he sat in one position for too long. 

The homework of the month was to map typifying autumnish constellations and the stars they were made of. All he needed to do was note it all down on paper. He had just been in the middle of Andromena, his notebook and textbook ( Star finder! step by step to the night sky ) laying across his lap, with a ballpoint pen in one hand and an americano in the other, his only light source being the flashlight sticking out from his mouth and the glowing screen of Sungjin's phone, thinking that he could be finished in no time when he had suddenly noticed a lighting dot between the stars Almach und Mirach. 

At first he had assumed that it was just a plane as well, but after 15 minutes of observation it hadnt moved a one bit. It also wouldn't be the first time he's found a mistake in his textbook. Being the broke student he was, he had bought it in a secondhand bookstore, it's old hardcover looking like it had been written no earlier than in the century when everyone still used to think that the earth was flat. 

He rubbed his temples and sipped on his coffee, his head pounding. Perhaps he needed something stronger than a cup of a lukewarm coffee, perhaps a night of a proper sleep for once. The past couple of weeks have been as tough as it always gets once midterms start approaching. Jae was surprised that he hasn't had a heart attack yet, considering the fact that he's been running on nothing but caffeine and 3 hours of sleep for days. 

"Man, you look like death," the other boy had stated as he glanced up from his phone to take a look at his frustrated friend "ask your teacher about it tomorrow and let's call it a night." 

"Let's be real, you don't actually care about my well being," Jae dug his finger into Sungjin's chest while giving him a pointed look "You just want to go to your boy." 

"Maybe i do, but that doesn't change the fact that i rather wouldn't have one of us die out here."

Jae sighted in defeat, pulling his finger away, knowing that Sungjin was right. It was nearing one in the morning and both of them had morning classes the next day. 

"It's making my eyes twitch just thinking about having to leave it bare, unfinished, incomplete the poor maybe-a-star-or-something without a name when everything else gets to have one." He whined, his head falling into his hands in annoyance. 

"Give it a name then," Sungjin suggested, the other boy looking at him as if he'd gone crazy ",just something temporary for before you find out what it is." 

Jae tilted his head, considering it and then deciding to just roll with it because for some reason it seemed like the best option at the moment and if he had to be honest, he didn't want to spend any more time there either. He looked up at the sky and gave the object one more long look. 

"Brian." he clapped his hands together in victory and started writing it down. 

"What kinda name is that?" Sungjin next to him snorted. 

"A great name, nothing lame like for example, Sungjin." 

Jae easily dodged Sungjin's fist away and started packing his things, in a better mood now that he was finally somewhat done. 

***

Jae wasn't a light sleeper, living in a dorm which had walls made of paper with people yelling, playing music as loud as possible and running around the hallways taught one how to block all the noise out.  
Thats also why he didnt hear the first few soft knocks on his door, but as the person stading outside slowly started to loose patience the thoumbs gradually got louder to the point when even he couldnt ignore it anymore. 

His eyes snapped open in shock as a one particulary loud knock hit the door. He groaned as he buried his face into his pillow. If there was one thing he hated more than waking up, it would be being woken up by people, Sungjin, it was always Sungjin, who thought that they were more important than the few precious hours of sleep Jae could afford before his alarm was set to ring. 

He rubbed on his eyes and glanced at the clock. It showed not even a minute after 6am.

"Knock on the door one more time and ill knock you out." he yelled as the knocking began again. 

It worked but Jae knew he had no other choice than to get up now as the person seemed to be pretty persistent about getting him out of bed.

"Im coming" he said a bit more calmly but still loud enough for the intruder to hear it as he threw his warm bedcovers away and slowly wobbled towards the door. He grabbed a hold of the door knob and swang the door open. Some other time he would probably at least glance outside throught the peep hole, but this time he was too tired to bother. 

So there he was, standing in the door frame in his checked pajamas, his dyed blond hair sticking out in all sorts of directions and a single sock on his foot with eyes that had been squinting due to the bright morning light just seconds ago now wide open in shock and his jaw dropped to the floor. 

The image he was met with wasnt something he would have expected not even in a million years. In the dorms hallway was standing a guy, one that couldnt be older than Jae himself, he was visibly shorter but his shoulders were broad and he held himself like a prince. His eyes were the darkest shade of black that he has ever seen, with little dots in them shining so bright that they sent the clearest summer night sky to shame. That wasnt however the most shocking part of the mans visage. He was dressed in a dark blue suit, that looked smoother than the most expensive velvet. Its humungeous puritan collar and sleeves lining were interwoven with thin silver threads. He was wearing a black lacey top underneath and on his neck was hanging a giant silver necklace with a crystal in the middle that changed colors depending on the light. Not only did he held himself like a prince, everything from his outfit to his bold eyes and perfectly styled dark hair looked prince like, it had Jae wondering whether he was still dreaming or not. 

He was, however, snapped out of his shock as the man cleared his throat hesitantly "Is this, uhm," he started unfolding a paper that he was holding "Park Jaehyung?" 

Hearing his name made him snap out of his thoughts completely "I didn't order anything!" he blurred out ", you have the wrong person."

Was there another Park Jaehyung in the building? He didnt know of anyone but it was a possibility, he barely knew anyone who lived there. There was no way he was the one that this funky person was looking for.

"Oh is this not room 159?" blue suit asked in confusion. Jae could swear his heart stopped beating for a second, that indeed was his room, what the fuck was going on "it is" he confirmed . 

"Then you are the person that i'm looking for!" the guy grinned. 

"What do you want?" said Jae, maybe a bit too grumpily but he really wasn't in the mood. 

The guy cleared his throat before starting to speak "For a star to be born, there is one thing that must happen: a gaseous nebula must collapse. They come and go, form and abolish. Dust that takes the form of a miracle and dissolves again once the time is out. There is one condition for birth but another for it's stay. There must be recognition. I had finally been recognized last night and that is why i come to you." 

By the time he had finished speaking the blood in Jae's veins was boiling again. What was the guy thinking, waking him up just to show off this preposterous theater. Then it hit him, he must have been a member of the theater club. Every once in a while they walked around the campus and collected money and invited people to their performances, which the university allowed only under the condition that they would be space related. 

That explained everything, both the costume and the speech. Jae felt like an idiot, he should have known since the beginning. 

Some other time he would probably hype the guy up, maybe even went to see the performance but it was too early and he was tired and annoyed. 

So all he could think of doing was slamming the door into the guys face. But as soon as he did so the knocking began again. At that point he was already fuming but he was also desperate to get at least few more minutes of sleep so he grabbed the few bills and coins that were lying on his desk, opened the door, threw it at the guy, who looked so hopeful once he saw his face that he almost felt bad and closed the door again. 

***

The morning had the potential to not be so bad in the end, the sun's warmth filled up the air, dancing on buildings and brushing people's faces instead of the usual cold breeze. 

Yeah, it could had been good, weren't it for the fact that he had slept in.

The next time he opened his eyes his alarm was screaming and head pounding, he didnt sleep enough, but then again, when did he ever. He yawned and glanced at the clock. 8am. Fuck, he should have woken up a long time ago. 

He jumped out of his bed, quickly washed up and dressed into jeans and a way-too-oversized hoodie, managing to bang his toe against the table in the process. He considered turning on his hardly working coffee machine, that he once won in a beer pong battle, but decided that he'd get one in the cafeteria on his way to class instead as he didnt have the time to fight with it. He quickly threw his books into his bag, swang it around his shoulder and stormed out the door. 

So now there he was, running throught the hallways of the university on full speed, his shoes screeching against the tiles and the bag on his back swinging from left to right. 

When he finally reached his locker and went to opened it he froze in spot as he sensed something, or rather someone, from the corner of his eye. He turned around and there he was, the guy from before, leaning against the metal lockers right next to jae's, throwing one of the coins he had given him earlier into the air and catching it right away. 

"Are you stalking me?" he turned to look at him "Sorry man, I don't know who told you that i was rich, but they lied." He threw all the books he had in his locker into his bag and started to walk towards his classroom. 

He looked at his watch with a sighted, there was barely any time left until the start of his lesson, the coffee would have to wait for later. 

"I don't want your money," the other guy, still dressed in his ridiculous attire caughted up to him "last night, you found a new star, my star in fact." 

"how do you-" jae's eyes lit up as he seemed to realize something "wait! were you there yesterday? did you see it too? thank fucking god, i thought i was going crazy!" 

"No i wasn't there are you listening to me! It was me. I am the star you saw." the shorter guy said throwing arms around wildly as he was clearly starting to get frustrated, as they walked into the classroom. 

Jae plopped down onto his usual spot at the back and the mysterious guy right next to him despite a lot of other spots still being free. 

"Are you trying to hit on me? I'm sorry but that's the poorest pick up line i've ever heard, plus i'm pretty sure i've never even seen you before this morning." Jae said as he took out his books. 

The other guy opened his mouth as though he was about to say something but got interrupted by the bell ringing and the teacher walking out in front of the class ready to start the lesson. 

*** 

Extragalactic astronomy was one of his favorite subjects, but no matter how hard he tried he couldn't seem to keep his eyes open.

Just as he felt himself starting to doze off once again, his teacher's voice suddenly snapped him awake. 

"Would you like to answer the question Jae?" 

His face, now decorated with a print of his notebook that he'd been laying at, turned bright red as everyone in the class turned to look at him, some people laughted quietly, knowing damn well that he didn't know the answer. or question. Hell, he didnt even have an idea what the lesson was about. 

"I-" he finally managed to get a word out of himself, but before he could even try to come up with he got interruped by a voice coming from his right. 

"I think that intergalactic stars could have been ejected from their galaxy of origin by a close encounter with the supermassive black hole in the galaxy center, should there be one. In such a scenario, it is likely that the intergalactic star was originally part of a multiple star system where the other stars were pulled into the supermassive black hole and the soon-to-be intergalactic star was accelerated and ejected away at very high speeds."

Once he finished speaking everyone including the teacher fell so silent that one could hear the clock ticking. 

What a showoff, Jae thought to himself. But he was thankful to the guy for shifting the attention on himself, he could hear people start whispering, most likely surpised by the mysterious guys visage just like Jae when he'd first seen him that morning. The weirdest thing about it all was that he could swear the guy wasn't even in this class. 

The teacher finally broke the silence by clapping her hands together.

"Very well! I'm pleased to see that at least some of you pay attention to what i say," she sent Jae a warning look before turning back to the guy "What's your name sweets? I don't think i've ever noticed you in my class before." 

"Brian." the guy replied, and Jae had probably never turned around to look at somebody faster. 

Could it be a coincidence? The guy was clearly korean and for those it wasn't common to be called Brian. In fact, he hasn't known anyone. But who was he to judge, for all he knew the guy could have grown up somewhere else, just like Jae himself. 

"Just Brian?" the teachers voice snapped him out of his thoughts again. 

He watched as the confidence that had painted Brian's face just moments before slowly slipped away. He glanced at Jae and for a moment it felt as if the time stopped. 

Memorise of everything that the dark haired boy had said earlier at the dorms and on their way to class suddenly flashed in front of Jae's eyes, and when he let them meet Brian's, he knew that everything he'd said was true.

"Kang," he said towards the teacher "His name is Brian Kang." 

*** 

As soon as the bell rang, Jae threw his stuff into his bag and stormed out of the classroom. 

He had spent the rest of the lecture spacing out again, letting thoughts roam around his mind. 

Thankfully the teacher had left him alone for the rest of the class, probably both because she knew she wouldnt get anything out of him that day and also, because Brian was ready to answer every single, every single one of her questions. 

He needed to figure out what the heck was going on, but not before finally getting his coffee. 

He turned around the corner, not bothering to take a look at whether Brian was following him or not, he knew he would. 

When he finally reached and stepped inside the small cafe, that was a part of the university, he closed his eyes and breathed in deeply, already feeling much better surrounded by the scent of a freshly brewed coffee. He ordered a large americano without milk for himself and a hot chocolate for Brian, because one can never go wrong with that. 

Once he turned around he almost dropped the paper cups, because Brian was indeed standing there but way closer than he thought.

"Is this an apology for slamming your door into my face in the morning or a thank you for saving your ass back there in class?" Brian said as he took the cup from the taller boy, who immediately turned red at the memory.

"You know what, i changed my mind give it back!" Jae outstreched his arm towards the coffee but Brian immediately put it away from his reach.

"Thank you" he smiled at Jae, who started blushing furiously again at the sudden change of attitude from teasing to sweet. All he could get out of himself was a nod. 

He sat down at one of the free tables by a window with a view at the campus' park and waited for Brian to do the same. Now that he finally had the chance to truly look at him, with caffeine running through his body and round glasses sitting on his nose, he noticed how out of the world he looked in a middle of a room as special as university canteens get. With his long fingers wrapped around the warm cup and an almost dreamy look in his eyes as he watched people rushing to and from lectures outside the window, Jae thought, he looked like the most beautiful person he's ever seen. He seemed almost unreal, not like anyone Jae has seen before, but he has never met a star before in the first place. He slammed his head on the table in frustration, what the hell even was his fucking life. 

"You know that you could just ask, right?" he heard Brian chuckle ,, I can see your brain going 100 miles per seconds." 

Jae laid his head on the side to glare at him, which he only got another chuckle for. He sat back up and sighted "So, your name's Brian, yes?" he got a nod from him "and you're a, uhm, a star, yes?" another nod "what the fuck?" his face fell between his palms and the dark haired boy just laughed, it seemed to be the only thing he ever fucking did. 

Once he was finally done with making fun of frustrated Jae he cleared his throat and his expression turned rather serious "Every star at first wanders around the universe in the form of star dust and every year at the date of it's birth it turns into a real star. It remains like that for 24 hours and once the time runs out it goes back to roaming from nowhere to everywhere for another 365 days." he stopped speaking for a while to glance at Jae, who was looking back at him with furrowed eyebrows "Is this a prank? Is there a hidden camera somewhere here? What kinda bullshit are you trying to feed me with here Brian, everyone knows that this is not how stars are born, nebula? does that ring a bell in the head of yours? it's not like i'm pulling this out of my pocket, it's been proven by science!"

"Quit getting so furious over the fact that you humans might not know everything, there's a reason for why it needs to stay that way too," Brian sighted "If the human species were ever to find out about it, something pure would turn into something selfish and evil. People would start using it in their favor instead of accepting it for what it is like they've had for centuries." 

"Use it in their favor? How?" Jae asked, any signs of doubt were now gone from his face. Brian knew that deep down he has won him on his side the moment their eyes met back there in the class after he revealed his name, but it was only natural for him to doubt something that was far from what he's believed his entire life. 

"There is a way to save those stray stars and that is by someone noticing them and giving them a name. That way they finally find their place in the universe and don't wander around without a purpose anymore. The star descends for 24 hours on earth after its been discovered, and the person who stands behind the discovery gets to make a wish." 

He stopped speaking and his slight but typifying smirk returned on his face as he watched the blond boy slowly realize what has just been said "Does that mean-"

"Hell yeah," Brian clapped his hands together as he jumped into Jae's sentence "You get to make a wish, and that's why i'm here. To make it come true." 

The tips' of Jae's lips started slowly turning upward until he was full on grinning. When he stepped out of the bed for the second time that morning, he lost all the hope for his day to get any better throught out the day but as he was sitting there at the cheap plastic chair, sipping on his by that time already luke warm coffee, he could see the whole world unrolling in front of him, all the possibilities of what he could wish for flashing in front of his eyes. 

Sudden realization made him snap out of his thoughts "Hold on, is there some special ritual we need to do to make it happen?"

"You have to cut the heads of 3 hens off and then set them on fire at midnight and use the fire to make smoke signals while recitating your wish." 

"Oh god, wait! Come back, I'm joking," Brian called as he got up to leave "It's nothing special, we just need to get to a high spot with a good view at the sky before the time runs out, and the rest leave to me." 

"Does that mean i have to hang out with your until then?" Jae teased, smiling. 

"If that's how it is we could always just meet la-" 

"I'm just kidding," the blond boy said as he was getting up gesturing for Brian to follow him "gotta show you what's good down here before you have to return back to your- star business whatever"

He glanced up at him before doing so "Don't you have classes to go to?" 

"I wasn't planning on going to them anyways." He winked at the dark haired boy, who rolled his eyes but couldnt help the smile creeping on his face as they walked out the door. 

***

It wasn't hard for the new 'tour guide for a day' to pick the first destination of their trip around seoul, he knew where he needed to take Brian as soon as he heard their stomachs growl almost simultaneously. Both of them not having eaten anything that day. Well, in the dark haired boys case, never.

At first though, Jae decided that it would probably be a good idea to dress the special boy into something that wouldn't draw so much attention from others. 

So there he was, sitting at a not so much better plastic chair than in the canteen, in the middle of McDonald's, drowning in one of Jae's way too oversized hoodies and jeans that he had to fold three times at the bottom for them to fit, mouth stuffed with a cheeseburger and sipping on a large strawberry milkshake. Even the fact that he now looked almost like a local didn't stop people from stealing glances in his direction now and then. Jae knew that it was the impeccable facial features which made it impossible for others to take their eyes off of Brian, he felt the same way. Even now that he was chewing furiously while the milk drink was streaming down his chin he still looked absolutely ethereal. 

"Tastes better than star dust?" 

Brian flashed him thumbs up, not being able to speak as he hadnt allowed his mouth to be any less than completely stuffed with the food ever since he'd first tasted it. Jae just laughed at the sight and dove into his own meal. 

 

Four cheeseburgers and two milkshakes for Brian and three large fries and one coke for Jae later, the blond boy had made it his mission to show the other all the most popular sights in Seoul. Speaking as if he was a real tour guide despite not actually being familiar with most of them. 

"And if you take a look on the right side, you can see the N seoul tower, which was built in the 19th century by an architect, who claimed to had been kidnapped by aliens, who dismissed him only under the condition that he'd build a tower which they could use as a spying system on the earth." an older woman, who was passing by shot Jae a disbelieving look. 

"You're so making this up." Brian, who hadn't missed it either, chuckled next to him.

"In my defence, i haven't lived here my whole life either." Jae sent him a pointy look as he turned around a corner and walked towards the tower so they could take a better look at it. 

"Huh?" 

"I grew up on the other side of this planet, in a country full of sun, palm trees, beaches and all the good stuff. I came to Korea later to become the world's best," he wiggled his eyebrows in Brian's direction! "and best looking, astronomer." 

"Is sleeping in classes and ditching them a part of that plan?" he teased him, completely ignoring the second part of his statement. 

"ANYWAYS, i haven't really had the time to get to know all the touristic attractions, but to be honest i don't really care. When i first moved here my friends showed me all the great places for locals to hang out, so that's where we spend most of our free time." 

They stopped walking as they reached the tower, Brian covered his eyes with his hand to deflect the sun that still shone bright, despite it being november, although it didnt produce as much warmth as few months ago and looked up at the tower. He learnt from a sign, that at the top was a restaurant and even though the weather was getting rather cold and tourist season was long gone it still looked quite crowded. In the meantime Jae fished a map, that they managed to snatch at a info center that they passed by on their way here, out of his bag. 

"Okay so, if i'm looking at this the right way if we go in that direction-" Brian didn't even bother looking wherever he was pointing "-and if we're fast enough maybe we could," 

"Jae," he glanced up from the map at the mention of his name, Brian was leaning against the tower, slight smile playing on his lips "I think i'd rather see your favorite places." 

***

"Welcome to my kingdown" Jae outstreched his arms and twirled twice in place as they stepped into an arcade. A place where he and his friend Dowoon spent hours on end everytime the pressure of school became too much and they needed to clear their minds, or whenever they had some free time to kill. You could say that they were there basically all the time.

The owner nodded in Jae's direction, knowing him well after all those years, often joking about the boy being the reason why the place hadn't gone bankrupt yet. Jae glanced at Brian, who was looking around with wide eyes, taking in all the machines covered in flashing lights. 

"Come on," he grabbed his arm and pulled him towards one of them "let the best player in town show you how it's done." 

 

Jae smashed his head against the maschine and groaned. He'd lost for the fifth time in a row. Brian just grinned and once again mimicked his winning dance, which Jae only got to do once, because the other boy became absolutely undefeatable as soon as he grasped understanding of how the game was played. 

He put a hand on the blond boy's shoulder and pouted "Oh come on, it's just a game. Is that what you said to me?" he threw his head back in laughter as Jae sent a glare in his direction "I'm sorry but i think your spot at the top has been snatched away from you, this town has a new champion now! Next round?" Jae stood up "I think it's time to go somewhere else." 

"Just one more game, please!" Brian whined but the other boy was already on his way out the door "Do they not teach you up there that too much playing isn't good for your brain?" 

***

Hongdae was always busy, no matter the time of the day, season or weather. The bars, shops and restaurants which surrounded its streets were crowded with both locals and tourists, who didn't mind spending money on way too overpriced things. The magic of the place however wasn't in the buildings around but rather in the streets themselves. They were always crowded, but everyone moved in a rather slowlier manner, stopping every now and then to take a look at a street dancer or give their change to a busker. 

Everytime Jae stepped into these streets he could feel excitement start running throught his veins and everytime he breathed in it felt as if he gained a bit of inspiration from all the forms of art that were surrounding him. 

This time it wasn't any different, he slowly walked down the street, glancing from left to right as he tried to not miss a single thing. Brian walked by his side with an amazed expression, which mirrored his own, playing on his face. 

They stopped for a while to join a group of people, who were standing around a dancer, who was dancing to some popular kpop song, which Jae's never heard before but some of the people watching seemed to recognize as they from time to time tried to mirror the choreography or sang a few lines. Once the song had ended and performance finished, everyone clapped loudly and gave him the few coins they found in their pockets. Everyone went away in a different direction, locals returning from their lunch breaks back to work and tourists storming out quickly to the next stop of their trip, Jae and Brian continued walking down the street. 

They stopped to watch a few more performers before finally sitting down on a couple of stairs which lead to a side street, allowing their legs to finally rest for a while after having done all the walking. In their sigh of view was a girl, seated on a stacked up wooden pallets with a guitar leaning against her chest. She strummed it gently as she sang a slow ballad, a genre, which Jae held close to his heart as well, with a voice sweet like honey and soft like a summer rain, which cut throught the thick air of the busy streets and drew to itself the attention of people, who were passing by. 

"I do too," Jae interrupted the comfortable silence, which settled between them as they both listened to the singer.

"Hm?" Brian looked at him, not understanding what he was talking about.

"busk here." he explained, while playing with the hem of his jacket. Brian's face quickly changed from confused to surprised, a slight smirk started forming on his lips "A musician and a nerd? Is there something you can't do except for playing games?" he grabbed Jae's arm and pulled him back down to sit as he pretended to try to leave "I'd love to hear you sing." 

"Maybe some other time, when i come to perform here again."

"There won't be an other time" Brian said quietly and watched the slight smile which was hanging on Jae's lips the whole time slip away as the realization hit him. Brian quickly stood up before he could say anything and extended his hand in his direction to pull him up on his feet "Let's go, show me some more dope places of yours." 

***

The sun was still high up in the sky, making the crowns of trees, which leaves had turned all shades of orange, red and yellow already a long time ago, shine bright. 

The east side of the Hangang park was pretty much desolated at this time of the year, everybody seeking the warmth of the city's coffee shops rather than the cold breeze which zoomed across the riverbank of the han river, which would be few months ago completely crowded at this time of the day. That day only a group of friends, who were still dressed in their uniforms, was having a picnic under one of the humongous elm trees, which one could see in the park at every turn, and a few tourists were walking around, every now and then snapping photos with the cameras that always hanged around their necks, having decided to explore the calmer, yet equally beautiful, side of the city. 

Brian looked up at Jae, who had come back from a streetstand, holding a warm churro in each hand. He handed one to Brian as he sat down next to him at the edge of the sidewalk and swung his feet in the air above the water. 

If Jae had to pick one place in seoul that he liked more than his bed, it would be this one. Despite only living there for a couple of years, the place had stolen a special place in his heart as it held a lot of memories. Sungjin had made it his mission the first year of university, to drag Dowoon and Jae from the arcade to the park at least once a week, claiming that they'd blend in with paper soon enough if they didn't get their weekly amount of vitamin D and fresh air once in a while. The afternoons by the river were spent lying under one of the elm trees, sometimes doing homework, sometimes eating ramen from one of the near convenient stores and sometimes busking when one of them brought along a guitar. Once his friends finally acknowledged their undying love for each other and began spending all of their free time going on the cheesiest dates one could possibly think of, Jae had spent most of his afternoons by the river alone. The two, feeling bad for breaking the tradition, had invited him over to their dates from time to time, but he had always refused, not only because he had had enough of third wheeling but also because he actually liked spending some time alone. He had always sat at their usual spot, long legs folded into a crossed legged position, sometimes reading a novel, sometimes working on a new song. As cliche as it might sound, becoming one with the nature as well as observing people who had decided to spend their time by the water too, always flooded him with inspiration. 

However, that day with Brian by his side, everything felt so new and different regardless of not having changed at all. Maybe it was the revearsal of weather or maybe simply the fact that he was there with Brian. 

He turned around and looked at him, taking his appearance in once again. The dark haired boy was chewing on his churro while watching a couple of crows fight over a piece of bread a few meters away from them. He broke off a bit of his pastry and threw it in their direction, one of them quickly snached it and flew away. Brian threw his head back as sounds of laughter escaped his throat. If Jae hadn't known the truth, he would have thought he was a normal citizen just like everyone else. Everything he did, from the way he spoke to the way he acted felt so casual, almost as if he'd always been a part of this world. 

"How come you're so good at this whole-"Jae stopped in the middle of his sentence, trying to find the right way to voice his thoughts "-this whole 'acting like a human' thing?"

"What do you mean?" Brian turned to face the blond boy, who's cheeks turned pink right away as he realized how close to each other they were actually sitting.

"You know, you can speak and you're not spooked by cars nor animals, shouldn't that be all new to you?" 

Brian chuckled at that as if it was obvious "Stars, who are sent on earth, are given a certain amount of basic knowledge on the planet to avoid that from happening," he explained "and we're also given similar traits as our discoverers, nationality, age and all that kinda stuff to help us to blend with everyone else." 

Jae wanted to point out that he looked too good to be able to actually blend in but he stopped himself from saying it out loud in time. 

"Does that mean that we're the same age?" Jae asked, curious. 

"Age doesn't really matter when you're a star." 

"Guess so." 

 

The afternoon was getting colder as it was slowly coming to an end. The two boys decided to walk along the river to warm up as they could feel the cold breeze start painting their cheeks red.

"Have you decided what you want to wish for yet?" Jae looked up from where he was looking down on his feet, the question taking him off guard. 

The whole afternoon with Brian had been so fun, hanging out with him felt as if they'd known each other since forever, causing him to almost forget from time to time what the real reason for him to be there was but the question had never truly left the back of his mind. The primary excitement he first felt when the dark haired boy told him died down throughout the day as he realized how much of an responsible decision it must be. 

"Not yet." Jae answered honestly. 

"A penny for your thoughts?" 

"You don't have any!" Jae shoved his shoulder lightly and laughed "We don't even have pennies in Korea, shouldn't you know that from your "to be a human" manual?" 

Of course that Brian knew that, he ignored Jae's teasing and stared at him with a raised eyebrow as if waiting for him to answer his question.

"I've always wanted to be a singer. Don't get me wrong i love astronomy, but it's never been my dream. Music touches my heart on a level that nothing else ever had and i want to touch people with mine, you know?" he glanced at Brian, who gave him a nod. 

"My parents back home own a small restaurant that is always on the brink of bankruptcy. They gave up so much to help me get here, i couldn't had chosen such a risky path. I want to be able to give back to them." 

California was full of people of different social stratifications and cultures but Jae had never been ashamed of who he was. In school he had spent most of the time reading books under his desk or scribbling lyrics onto the last pages of his notebooks, always making it out with commendable grades. His teachers knew he was smart so they let him be. When the time to make the decision came he knew he could choose whatever university he wanted but all that's ever been on his mind was his music, when his parents came up with the suggestion to study astronomy in seoul he took it without thinking twice, knowing that it was the least he could do for them. 

The thing is that it wasn't bad. It wasn't bad at all. He had good friends, a decent place to live and the subject was captivating enough to keep him interested. He knew he should be grateful, that he had so much more than many people could ever ask for but there was always the regret, bugging him at the back of his mind. If he wished for their restaurant to start doing well, for his parents to be finally able to stop worrying for the first time in a very long time, the only thing that had been stopping him up until then would be gone. Brian let him get lost in his thoughts for a while before he spoke up again. 

"So why are you so unsure? What are you torn between?" Jae looked at him, all the playfulness that once was there between them having disappeared completely, his expression was serious, almost upset. 

"This one guy, Wonpil, was seated next to me in physics last year. We joked around during classes and helped each other with homework and in no time we became basically inseparable. It took me a few months to realize i was in love with him but when i did i confessed. It turned out he was in love with somebody else." 

"And do you?" Brian asked, curiosity obvious in his eyes.

"What do you mean?" 

"Want to make him love you?" 

Jae looked away, eyes connecting with one of the many trees, which lined their way and which crowns created a colorful roof above their heads, it took a while before he answered "I don't know." 

The thing is, Jae wasn't even sure if he was still in love with him himself or whether he was just tired of the never ending solitude. He didn't mind being alone, but he was so sick of being lonely. Maybe wishing for somebody to love him would be a selfish thing to do but he still couldn't stop having such desires, the empty hole inside his heart asking to be patched up. 

Brian next to him didn't push any further and just hummed to show that he understands, even though Jae knew that somebody who's never experienced such feelings couldn't ever know what it's like. 

"What would you wish for?" Jae suddenly asked. 

"If i was you?" 

"No, if you could make one wish, what would you wish for?" 

Brian stayed quiet for a while, he looked even smaller in Jae's hoodie now that he had drawn it's long sleeves over his fingers to keep them warm. 

"I would wish to stay a human forever." 

Surprise flashed across Jae's face, not having expected such an answer. The serious expression slipped away from his face as if it had never even been there in the first place and he grinned. 

"You like me that much huh?" 

"In your dreams loser." Brian pushed him away lightly but he was already grinning again too. 

***

The last stop of their tour was the lotte world. The famous amusement park of Seoul. Regardless of the place being about to be closed for the season in no time, as it was every year when the smell of winter started to appear slowly but surely in the air, a lot of people had decided to spend their evening the same way as the two boys. Little kids were running from one attraction to another, their parents desperatedly trying to catch up with them, tour guides were bedecked with backpacks, waiting for their groups to finish their roller coaster rides and couples were walking hand in hand, while sharing sweets bought from one of the many enticing streetstands. 

As the day progressed, Jae could feel his wallet get lighter and lighter but all he cared about at the moment was to make Brian happy while they still had the time, even if it meant having to live of instant food for the next few weeks and when he looked at Brian as they walked throught the entrance, his eyes wide open, sparkling even more than usually now that they were reflecting all the lights of the fair, he knew that every single won was worth it. 

"Do you want to just stand here or go try on how many of the rides we can go before they kick us out to close this place?" 

Brian had already grabbed him by the sleeve of his jacket and started tugging him towards one of the roller coasters with the biggest grin on his face by the time he finished speaking. 

Four roller coasters, two bumper cars and one haunted house, which had both of them crying, first from fear and afterwards from laughter, later they had decided to take a break. They walked around aimlessly for a bit, while sharing a cotton candy.

"So tell me ,star boy, am i not the best tour guide in the entire world?"

"It's not like i have an experience to compare it to but i'd say that you've been pretty decent." Jae sighted, having decided to just let it slide for once and stuffed his mouth with a big piece of the candy instead. 

"Damn man, my hands are so sticky." Jae complained as he tossed its stick into a trashcan and started going throught his backpack, looking for a pack of tissues. 

He hummed happily as he finally found it and after cleaning his hands went to offer it to Brian. He stopped in his tracks as he saw the darkhaired boy who was looking somewhere up with the look of purest awe on his face. Jae looked up too and his face immediately mirrored the exact same expression. They were standing right in front of an immense ferris wheel. 

"Jae! can we go? Please?" Brian looked at him, the look on his face representing a puppy, and it was not like Jae could say no to him even if he wanted to. 

They stood at the back of the attraction's queue and waited, both of them almost shaking with excitement but when the last people stood before them were let in and their turn finally came an old carny man with a cigarette hanging between his lips closed the ferris wheel's gate with a latch right in front of their faces ,,Sorry guys, we're closing, come again next time." 

"You've just let everyone else in you, you can let us too!" Jae complained, maybe way too loudly. The man showed them the screen of his phone, which was so cracked they could barely make out what was on it "See? It's 6pm i'm not allowed to let anyone in anymore. Now leave." 

"Please?" Jae tried again but the man ignored him and went to light up another cigarette. 

"It's okay Jae, we can go somewhere else." Brian turned around to leave but the blond boy stopped him, not ready to give up just yet. 

He knew how important it was for him, and making it happen was important to Jae. He pulled his wallet out of his backpack just to find out that he had spent what had still been left of his money on the cotton candy and he was now completely broke. He threw the empty wallet back into his bag and cursed under his breath. He wanted to see Brian smile with that huge stupid grin of his, the one which slowly spread across his whole face until even the little glittering dots in his eyes were smiling whenever he got excited, at least one more time, he detested the man for taking that away from him. But maybe, just maybe the evening hadn't been ruined yet, maybe they could go on the carousel, the one which played the same annoying melody again and again, that they passed on their way he- a sudden click, followed by screeching sounds of hinges, which probably weren't oiled in a very long time if even ever, snapped him out of his thoughts. 

He turned around and froze in spot, the gate was now open again and Brian was handing the man a few folded up bills. It took Jae a few seconds to realize that it was the money he had thrown at him in the morning. Somehow it felt as if days had already passed since then. They thanked the man over and over again and he only gave them glares in return. 

"What a headass." Jae let out once they were finally sat in one of the cubicles and the man had left to turn it on. The cubicle jerked forward and started moving. It was rather small inside, they sat opposite of each other, knees touching in the middle but neither of them seemed to mind. 

Brian was gripping on a handrail, face barely inches away from one of the small windows, look of absolute amazement playing on his face as he watched them lift off the ground. Jae smiled at the absurdity of the situation, how the boy who had spent his whole life roaming around the galaxy could get astonished by something so small. He took his phone out of his pocket and snapped a picture, wanting to keep the memory forever. 

He put his phone back into his jacket and joined the other boy at the window. The sun was setting and the city which was stretching out in front of them was bathing in the shades of pink and orange. Jae watched people in the park underneath get smaller and smaller until they looked like just a couple of ants. 

"Seeing everything from up here makes one realize how small and insignificant it all actually is. Our houses, the streets we walk down every day, our problems and dreams." He suddenly broke the silence which settled between them.

"Sometimes it's the little things that are the most important." 

"At a moment like this, i wish i could just snap my finger and stop the time. Everything moves and changes so fast and i'm not sure if i can keep up, but right now, right here, it all feels almost okay." 

Brian turned to look at the blond boy "Do you always feel like that?" 

It took a while before Jae spoke up again, not having expected such a question "Pretty much, except for," 

"Except for when?" 

"Except for when i sing." Jae admitted. 

Music has always been his way of expressing himself, a way of espace, letting go of worries that always bugged him at the back of his mind for a little bit. When he sang it was as if his heart was laid out in front of him, so pure and exposed, only at moments like that he felt truly free.

"Sing for me." the darked haired boy suddenly blurred out.

"What?" Jae knew his voice better than anyone, knew how to make it sound the right way and all the ways to play around with it but he still got shy whenever he performed in front of other people. 

"Please sing," Brian's eyes met with Jae's, who'd been watching him the whole time "can you do that for me? I want to have a melody, which will remind me of this moment forever. Which will remind me of you. Something to assure me that all of this really happened, that it was real." 

Jae knew what he was hinting at, as much as he tried to push the thought away the time to face the reality would have arrived sooner or later. The sun has almost said it's last goodbye for the day and disappeared from their vision, meaning that it would be time for Brian to leave soon too. 

At first it started only as a whisper, floating across the cubicle, bumping into it's walls and then dwinding away to the air but as the song got inside Jae's mind, fogging it up, getting rid of any excessive thoughts, it started slowly gaining on volume, his eyes fluttering shut. 

The words were falling out of his mouth naturally, without him having to think about it, something about a beautiful feeling, the sky, happiness and love. A song he wrote right after moving to Seoul, when everything still used to feel so new, exciting and hopeful. 

His voice wasn't one to fly throught the air lightly like a feather, a voice smooth like silk and sweet like honey. Instead, It reminded Brian of a storm, it was raw and honest, so honest it felt as if it was about to pierce throught Jae's throat in the form of a swarm of ravens, or a hurricane, leaving everything that made Jae Jae exposed for everyone to see. 

The last tones melted in with the cold night air, leaving behind only silence. Jae opened his eyes and looked at Brian. He was looking back at him with a weird look in his eyes that he just couldn't put a finger on. He stayed like that for a while, not saying anything just staring at the other boy until he was not anymore. 

Before Jae could register what was happening, a pair of lips connected with his own. He was kissing him. Brian was kissing him. His hand holding Jae's jaw gently and his eyes closed shut. His lips had made the other boy's stomach all tingly whenever he smiled at him with that tender smile of his throughout the whole day. They were warm and tasted like cotton candy and something so Brian that Jae hadn't discovered yet. 

However, before he could do anything, the touch was gone just as suddenly as it appeared. 

"So you do like me that much." he couldn't help the smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth. 

"I'm sorry" Brian ran his fingers throught his hair as he started to panic, his eyes refusing to meet Jae's "i shouldn't have done it i-" but before he could say anything he was grabbed by his hoodie and pulled forward

"Shut up." Jae said before connecting their lips back together. 

Now the one in shock was Brian. He smiled into the kiss, all teeth and wide, as he realized what was happening and started moving his lips against the other boy's. Jae's heart pounded fast inside his chest and he couldn't help but smile too. 

They spent what was remaining of the ride like that. Jae's legs pressed between Brian's and his hand tugging lightly on his hair, kissing him both slow and fast, soft and hard until their cheeks were flushed and they were both running out of breath. 

***

Seoul looked beautiful during the day. The rays of the sun danced on the tops of its buildings, houses and homes and trees, which crowns were the hideout for many creatures and shades the hideout for people during the warmest of days. 

There was no doubt about that but there was something about the way it looked in the dark, that made Jae love night Seoul a bit more. Maybe it had something to do with him studying astronomy, but he loved to see the streets bathe in the moonlight along with the street lamps. It felt calm, peaceful almost as if the world had slowed down along with its people who's chatter could be heard from open windows of restaurants and bars, where families and friends had decided to spend the rest of their days.

The walk back home was, except for the always present buzz of the city rather silent, the both of them lost in their own heads, thinking about what was about to come and what it meant. They walked closer to each other than before, their hands touching every now and then. 

Jae had decided that the dorm building would be a good enough place to perform the ritual, as it complied all of its conditions. It needed to be somewhere high, where they could see the sky well and nobody would interrupt them and the roof of his current home was perfect for that. 

He and Sungjin had discovered the place few months after moving into the dorms. They were waiting in the bathroom for their turn to shower when they noticed clothes lying on the ground. They thought it would be a small harmless and hilarious prank to take it, but it didnt go as planned, as they didn't notice the water stop running. 

"What the fuck." 

They froze in spot with one of their legs already out the door and the clothes in their arms as a deep voice crashed it's way throught the room. 

They slowly turned around and realized that what was about to come woud be far from harmless as soon as they saw who the clothes belonged to. Two guys were now standing in the bathroom, towels wrapped loosely around their waists, showing off their muscular bodies. They looked like those jocks, who spend half of their time in the gym, which they probably did. 

Some other time Jae would gladly appreciate such a view but at that moment all he could think of was grabbing Sungjin and storming down the hallway. The muscle pigs tried to stop them but a maid that was working that evening stopped them to give them a lecture as they were still soaking wet, leaving footprints everywhere they went, and before they could explain to her what was happening Jae and Sungjin slipped out of their sight of view. However, their rooms were on the other side of the building and they knew the two would start looking for them sooner or later. Sungjin was already on the brink of tears, scared out of his mind when Jae found their way out of the situation. The door to stairs which lead to the rooftop had a lock on them but it wasn't locked, they easily got in, leaving the clothes folded up in front of somebody's door. From then on they often spent their nights there, drinking and talking about everything and nothing until the early morning hours. 

 

"Make yourself at home." Jae said to Brian as he closed the heavy rusted door. 

They brought out an old matress, which he and Sungjin kept under the stairs to have something to sit on up there. The dark haired boy clapped his hands together as he laid it on the ground and looked around. It looked like any other rooftop. There was a lightning rod, an antenna and a few empty beer cans that Jae and Sungjin had left there a few nights back.

"This will do." he nodded and sat down on the mattress, signaling for the other to do the same. 

The mattress shifted as he done as asked. They could see the whole campus from where they were sitting, despite it being hidden in the dark, the moon shining bright enough for them to see well without any other source of light. It was completely desolated at this time of the day, only faint sounds of people talking and laughting could be heard sometimes from the dorms under them. 

"So this is it, huh?" He tried to sound nonchalant but the way his voice went unnaturally high exposed that he was far from that. Brian seemed to sense it too "I'm always going to be here, okay? Everytime you look up at the night sky, i will be there, shining for you." 

He glanced at Jae, who was looking back at him, eyes open wide filling with tears. He pulled him closer and wrapped his arms around his body, his chin resting on top of his head despite Jae being taller "Thank you for today, i will never forget it. Not a single second," He whispered into his hair "you truly are the best tour guide in the world and one day you will be the best and hottest astronomer as well." he felt Jae laugh into his chest. 

"Or maybe not. You will be freaking awesome no matter what you do as long as you let your heart make your choices for you. Can you promise me that?" 

Jae nodded, not being able to speak and having already soaked his hoodie up with tears by the time Brian had finished speaking. 

They stayed like that for a bit more before Jae pulled away and wiped his tears away "You idiot, i never cry look what you did!" He complained which only made Brian laugh. Once their eyes met again, the serious but fond expression was back "I will never forget it either." he whispered. 

Brian lifted up his hand and softly stroked his cheek as a slight smile tugged on his lips. Jae leaned into the touch and couldn't help but smile back. 

Loud beeping made them snap out of the moment, Jae's phone signaling that it would be the time to start soon. 

Brian had explained everything to him when they walked back from the amusement park, the ritual really was simple. Jae thought that it was maybe too simple for something that could be so life changing. 

He turned around to face Brian, who gave him a long look "Ready?" Jae took a deep breath and nodded "Ready." 

He sat, facing the star, which shined brightly just like the previous night. It was hard for Jae to think that only 24 hours had past since then. In fact, nothing had really changed, he was sitting on the same old rooftop, in the same old worn out jacket, looking at the same old sky but having somebody new by his side felt as if something made him feel as if something had changed in him as well. 

All he had to do was lace his fingers together, create a small bowl out of his hands and blow the wish into it, the other would disappear and the wish come true right away. Brian wrapped his hands around Jae's and squeezed lightly as he felt them shake. 

"Wait!" The blond boy suddenly blurred way too loudly, startling Brian "before we do this, is there some another secret of the universe that i should know?" 

"The earth is flat." 

Jae groaned, which made Brian burst out laughing, knowing that he would had probably tried to punch him if it wasn't for the fact that he was holding his hands , having already gotten to know the boy through and through despite spending with him only such a limited amount of time. He looked at Jae, who was sitting with his long legs crossed, his blond bangs falling into his eyes as he looked back at him. It was only few seconds, but it felt like longer, their eyes saying everything their mouths couldn't seem to put into words. 

Brain knew he knew it, but he felt the need to say it anyways "It's time." he whispered and Jae nodded. They exchanged one more look, both taking in what was in front of them, wanting to remember the moment forever and then Jae closed his eyes and leaned forward. 

He stopped in front of their intertwined hands and slowly blew in. 

 

He cracked one of his eyes open before opening both of them fully. He looked up at the sky, just as he thought, the star was gone, not a single proof that it's ever even been there and there in front of him, with moonlight dancing on his face and his glistening confused eyes staring back at him was Brian. 

He mirrored the other boy's action and looked up at the sky. When he turned around, his confused facial expression had been exchanged for a whole new level of confusion. Jae couldn't help the smile that started tugging on the corners of his lips, growing slowly until he was full on grinning. 

He could see the exact moment Brian realized what had happend. He gasped and his eyes shot open so wide it looked like they could fall off any second. 

Jae had given him his wish. 

He looked at him and his gaze immediately softend, tears welled up in his eyes until teardrops started flowing down his cheeks. 

Jae crawled to him and squeezed tight as he wrapped both of his arms around him "Won't you look at how the tables have turned!" 

"Shut up." He heard Brian muffle against his chest as he tried to push him away but Jae only laughed and squeezed him even tighter. 

Once his sobs turned into faint hiccups the other boy softened his grip and began to pet his hair instead. 

Suddenly something snapped in Brian and he pulled away to look at him "Why did you do this? Waste it on me? What about your wishes Jae?" 

The boy smiled at him "You told me to let my heart make the choice, so i did." and only then Brian started smiling as well.

**Author's Note:**

> If you somehow managed to read this entire thing, thank you so so much!! 
> 
> Stop by to tell me what you think in the comments.


End file.
